The World of Tiers Volume 2

World of Tiers #4-5,7

by Philip José Farmer

In one volume, here are the last three novels in the classic SF adventure series, The World of Behind the Walls of Terra, The Lavalite World, and More Than Fire. These are the great originals of universe-hopping adventure that later writers, including Roger Zelazny in his Amber Series, used as models. Zelazny himself says, "I admire his sense of humor and facility for selecting the perfect final sentence for everything he writes. He can be stark, dark, smoky, bright, and any color of the emotional spectrum...put quite simply, he arouses awe," The tierworld books are full of non-stop action and typify Farmer's boundless imagination. Who else would have thought of stacking up pocket universes like a ziggurat or the layers of a cake? Join Earthlings Robert Wolff and Paul Janus Finnigan (alias Kickaha) on an unforgettable adventure to big for any single world.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adventure

544 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Philip José Farmer was an American author, principally known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories. He was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, but spent much of his life in Peoria, Illinois.

Farmer is best known for his Riverworld series and the earlier World of Tiers series. He is noted for his use of sexual and religious themes in his work, his fascination for and reworking of the lore of legendary pulp heroes, and occasional tongue-in-cheek pseudonymous works written as if by fictional characters.

Reviews

[Rafi · Rating 2 out of 5]

While there were parts that were slightly better than the first book, some parts were just as bad or worse.
There were some rather obvious inconsistencies and a lot of plot ideas were thrown into the Story and then dropped, picked up again and then left hanging. For me as a reader it just seemed as if he wasn't sure where he wanted to go with his story.
But my main problem with this book is that the antagonists are all incompetent and pathetic, which is something I just don't find interesting.

Philip José Farmer is really bad at writing people and no amount of special and interesting geography will be enough to make up that flaw. When all is said and done, a book should be about the people inside it, and the world is what influences those people and strengthens the plot, but it can not be the main focus point while the protagonists remain simple two-dimentional stereotypes.

All in all, it's not a book I would recommend to anyone.

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

The weaker of the two collections. It includes the 4th book from the initial "rush" of them coming out one a year but that 4th book slightly put the brakes on the rush it seems. Set on earth mostly it lacks the original world construction that made the first 3 classics. After a seven year break though Farmer comes back with another absolute classic in the 5th book (Lavalite). That one alone makes the collection. The 6th and final book (written in the decadent 90's a couple of decades later) has a somewhat different tone than the earlier ones. Still a decent read though.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I also have the SF book club release containing books 3-5 of the Tiers series. Mine has a different cover and is from Nelson Doubleday. The three novels are: "A Private Cosmos," "Behind the Walls of Terra," and "The Lavalite World."

Very good.

[Wayne Porter · Rating 5 out of 5]

The series that spurned Zelazny to write the Amber Chronicles- The World of Tiers is another interesting book on the concept of "pocket universes".

[Paul Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved these books

[Chris Mcmanaman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Page turner! Loved this series

[Georgi Sokolov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book overall

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the Tiers trilogy fascinating when a teen but nowadays it's a bit ho hum

[Damon Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic amalgamation of science fiction and sword and sorcery fantasy. Dated occasionally, the story it tells survives the decades very well.